Institutional bedding, such as in college dormitories, can sometimes be subjected to damage during the course of normal use, such as with scratches, gouges, dents, or stains. This presents a problem for colleges and dormitory management, as it has been determined that the condition of dormitory furniture can be an important factor in the decision process of perspective college students. Accordingly, there is a perceived need that dormitory furniture, including beds, should have a new or gently used appearance. This problem has been solved by refinishing lightly damaged bed components and replacing heavily damaged bed components, such as end boards (i.e., the headboard or footboard) or side boards. Either of these options is relatively expensive. Refinishing usually involves tagging damaged components, shipping the damaged components to a refinishing facility, sanding and refinishing the components, shipping the refinished components back to the dormitory rooms and reassembling the beds. In addition to being expensive, refinishing is also relatively time consuming due to all of the planning, transportation and logistics involved in the process. Replacement of end boards is usually even more expensive than refinishing, but may be necessary for certain types of damage, such as deep gouges.
There is a need for institutional beds that can be refurbished without refinishing and with very substantially reduced need for replacement of an entire end board.